“Godly Christians in an Ungodly Culture”
(1 Peter 3:13-17)
Series: Strength Through Adversity
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
- Take your Bibles and join me in 1 Peter, chapter 3 (page 816;YouVersion).
It’s helpful to review where we are in the overall context and teaching of 1 Peter. Back in chapter 2, Peter began a new section of material where he encourages Christians to live out their lives as godly people in an ungodly culture. That new section begins in verse 11 of chapter 2. In fact, you have in verses 11 and 12 of chapter 2 an introduction to this new section of material. Let me read these two verses:
11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,
12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles (that is, the unbelievers; folks who do not follow Christ), that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
And what Peter is saying is, “Hey, Christians: Remember who you are. You are sojourners, exiles, or pilgrims. This world is not your home, you’re just passing through. So as you live among an anti-Christian culture, live differently than the others.” And then Peter gives various examples of how to live: verse 13, how Christians are to submit to the government, verse 18, how servants should live before their masters, chapter 3 and verse 1, how wives and husbands should live, verse 8 from last time: how all Christians should live before one another and before unbelievers, living as people who are called to bless others, verse 9, “not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this,” and that goes through verse 12.
And what Peter does in today’s passage, beginning in verse 13, is to continue this teaching about living as strangers and aliens in a world not our home, living before unbelievers, living as Christians in a non-Christian world, trying to live as godly people in an ungodly culture, living among a people who are resistant to the Gospel.
- Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
13 And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?
14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
- Pray.
Introduction:
Many of you are familiar with JRR Tolkien and his trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Thanks to the movies now, many more folks have become acquainted with Tolkien’s writings and even more recently now in theaters, The Hobbit, not a bad movie, by the way if you like all this Lord of the Ring stuff.
In the first book of Tolkien’s trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, the little hobbit guys meet up with some unique elves who are exiles in what Tolkien calls, “Middle-earth,” the place where the hobbits live and move. And these elves are a unique people who live in Middle-earth, but that land is not really their home. Their home is a kind of heavenly paradise across the Western Sea.
So Frodo and the other little hobbit guys are together in the woods and they hear the signing of these strange elves as they approach. And there’s a line from the song that goes:
We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees,
The starlight on the Western Seas
And what these elves are doing is recalling a place that is their true home. They are exiles in Middle-earth. The majority of their race live in the land across the Western Sea. And in the meantime, these elves help others and try to keep peace and so forth, but their true home is in that paradise across the sea and their true home is in their hearts. And so they frequently wandered about, looking in the direction of their true home and with a “faraway” kind of look in their eyes they sang:
We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees,
The starlight on the Western Seas
And Peter tells us here in this passage that–kind of like those folks–we are living in a world that is not our home. We, too, are strangers, aliens, pilgrims, or exiles in a world that is not our final destination. Our home is “across the sea,” if you like. And many of our kind are already there, already home in that paradise called heaven.
And we too find ourselves singing songs of that place. The people of our land tend to regard us as something of a unique people. Many are opposed to us, but they should see us as a people trying to help others, trying to keep peace, but it should be evident to them that another home is in our hearts. And they watch us wander here Sunday after Sunday to sing about our true home, our home across the sea, our true home in heaven.
In the meantime, how do we live here? Let me give you a few things that surface from this passage in verses 13-17 that teach us about living here in our temporary world, living as godly people in an ungodly culture. First, Peter comes back to a recurring theme, number one:
- We Must Suffer Regularly (13-14,17)
This is not a new teaching in 1 Peter. He’s told us before that Christians can expect to suffer. The reality of suffering may not sit well with those in the health and wealth prosperity gospel.
It is popular in our day for preaching and teaching to avoid the reality of suffering. Suffering doesn’t sell very well and so some preachers and teachers avoid the topic altogether, folks who are more interested in building a crowd than building a church, and there is a difference.
The New Testament teaches that Christians should expect suffering and persecution. Jesus says to His followers in John 15:19, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world…the world hates you.”
He doesn’t mean that all unbelievers always at all times will always be against us, but He does mean that when you follow Christ, you are going against the flow. You are living as Christians counter-culture. You are living among people highly resistant to the Gospel and so you can expect some suffering and persecution. Look at verse 13:
13 And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?
Paraphrase of verse 13, “In general, you will avoid trouble if you do the right thing.” Generally speaking, do good, stay out of trouble, and you won’t get into any more trouble.”
There’s kind of a “sandwiching” here in this passage. Verse 13 is the top of the sandwich and verse 17 is the bottom. Verse 17 parallels verse 13. It says there in verse 17:
17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
So you can suffer for doing good or you can suffer for doing evil. And note that carefully in the first part of verse 17, “For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good…” See that? “If it is the will of God.” Often, it is the will of God that we suffer for doing good.
So again back to verse 13. In general, you will avoid trouble if you do the right thing. Stay out of trouble and you’re less likely to get into trouble.
Then Peter says in verse 14:
14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”
So Peter reminds Christians who do, in fact, end up suffering for righteousness’s sake, that is, suffering persecution just for being a Christian, Peter says, “If that does happen to you, you are blessed.”
It calls to mind the teaching Peter had heard from Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:11-12:
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
So if you should suffer for being a Christian, you are blessed. Jesus says, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.”
Some of you this week will suffer for righteousness’s sake. In our day and culture that means some of you will be refused a position or opportunity because others know of your Christian commitments. Some of you will be regarded as “less cool” because you’re a Christian. Folks will hate you. Some of you ladies will be thought of us “not belonging” with the group anymore because you seem to always be talking about your true home. It’s like you’re always singing:
We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees,
The starlight on the Western Seas
Of course the kind of persecution Peter’s readers were facing in his day was a different kind. In just a few short years after Peter wrote this letter, many Christians living in the Roman Empire would undergo severe persecution, many killed with the sword, simple because they professed faith in Christ and refused to declare that the Roman Caesar was Lord.
That’s why Peter says in the second part of verse 14, Peter says in verse 14, “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” That’s a quote from the Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 8:12-14) where Isaiah is saying, “Don’t fear others, fear God.”
So Peter is like, “When your life is on the line for your faith in Christ, don’t be afraid. Better to fear God than to fear others.” And while few of us if any will face that kind of situation this week, where our lives are on the line for our Christian faith, there are other ways we may fear others.
You may fear speaking up for Christ. You may fear to take a stand for your Christian principles at work. You may fear the consequences of your schoolmates or your co-workers, when they hear that you attend worship and Sunday school at Henderson’s First Baptist Church. You may fear people thinking you are odd or strange for being a Christian. Peter says in verse 14, “Do not be afraid of their threats, no be troubled.”
Then Peter gets really practically and tells how Christians to do this. He says in the very next verse, verse 15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.” The text literally reads, “But sanctify Christ as Lord.” Sanctify Christ as Lord or, as one translation (NIV) has it, “In your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord.”
Make a firm decision to set apart Christ as Lord, sanctify Christ decisively. That’s the second action in this passage. Number two:
- We Must Sanctify Decisively (15a)
Sanctify Christ as Lord. The verb tense speaks of a decisive action and it’s in the imperative mood. So it’s a must-do. Christians must make a decision to regularly and continually, “In (their) hearts, set apart Christ as Lord.”
This means to believe, to really believe from the bottom of your heart, that the Lord Jesus Christ is in control of all things, not your enemies. Jesus Christ is in control, not your circumstances. Jesus Christ is in control, not your feelings.
So regularly, each day, and throughout the day, Christians must “in their hearts, set apart Christ as Lord.” We get up each day and we say, “Jesus, I believe YOU are in control of this day, not my enemies, not my circumstances, not my feelings. YOU are sovereign. In my heart I sanctify you as Lord of everything.
In my heart I have a deep-seated confidence that you are in control of my life, my family my job, my health, my finances, my situation. In my heart, I set apart Jesus Christ as Lord. Thank you for being Lord and thank you for always doing the right thing.
Now this action of “in our hearts sanctifying Christ as Lord” leads to the ability to do the third action. Peter teaches, number three:
- We Must Speak Courageously (15b-16)
When we sanctify decisively we’re able to speak courageously. Peter says in verse 15, “Sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts:
15…and always be ready to give a defense (or an answer) to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
That is, “Always be ready to speak about your faith in Christ.”
Are you always ready to do that?
If you are in the habit of, “in your hearts setting apart Christ as Lord,” then you will be ready to speak about your faith in Christ. You will have the boldness to do so even when you are taking a godly stand for Christ amidst unbelievers.
Peter says to do this not in a showy way, but rather–last part of verse 15–rather, “with meekness and fear.” That is, “with gentleness and respect (ESV).” He adds in verse 16:
16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
In other words, as the Life Application Bible puts it:
“You may not be able to keep people from speaking evil against you, but you can at least stop supplying them with ammunition. As long as you do what is right, their accusations will be empty and only embarrass them. Keep your conduct above criticism!”
Now I want you to notice something here about this matter of speaking courageously. Peter says in verse 15 that we should, “always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.”
Peter assumes that people will be asking us about our faith. He assumes that others will take note that we are different. So he says, “When that happens be ready to speak courageously.” Be ready to speak courageously about your faith in Christ.
Whether you are on trial for your faith or whether you are speaking freely, speak courageously, speak in a winsome way because in your speaking you are sharing the Good News of the Gospel, you are pointing people to Christ.
See there’s an application here for us today. We may assume that people will notice we are different. We may even find people asking us about our faith. We should be ready always to tell them what we believe and why we believe it.
One of the best things that can happen to you is when, while going about your business, a co-worker or a classmate at school says to you, “Hey, there’s something different about you. What is it?” And you have the opportunity to share with them the Gospel.
That opportunity is more likely to come when in your heart you regularly set apart Christ as Lord. You do that, believing He is in control and not your circumstances or your feelings, then people note a weightiness to your faith and they ask you, “What is it about you? You don’t seem to get as rattled as the others here at work. You don’t seem to be as alarmed as others when receiving bad news about your health, or your family, or your finances. What is it about you?” Then you have an opportunity to give an answer. You tell them about Jesus. Just tell them what you believe and why you believe it.
And there’s something really encouraging for us to remember: When we speak for Christ it is the Spirit of Christ who speaks through us.
You may recall from back in chapter 1 that “the Spirit of Christ” does the witnessing through believers. Peter says of our salvation in chapter 1 and verses 10-11:
10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
The “Spirit of Christ” did the witnessing about Christ through the prophets. Peter says the same thing happens in our case.
He teaches in the verses that follow–verses 18-20, that “the Spirit” of Christ preached to the people of Noah’s day through Noah when Noah was building the ark, unbelievers who are now “in prison” because of their refusal to listen to Noah’s saving message.
We’ll treat those verses more fully next time, but for now just note the encouragement here. Just as in Old Testament times, when the “Spirit of Christ” did the preaching through faithful followers, so in our day, the Spirit of Christ speaks through us.
So every time you speak about Christ, Christ speaks through you.
Noah spoke a message of salvation to the unbelievers of his day. And Peter teaches that when Noah spoke the Spirit of Christ spoke through him, preaching through Noah.
Every time you speak about Christ, Christ speaks through you. So don’t fear giving an answer to everyone who asks you for a reason for the hope you have in Christ. Don’t fear to speak courageously. When in your hearts you set apart Christ as Lord, you can speak courageously, remembering that the Spirit of Christ speaks through you.
Every time you speak about Christ, Christ speaks through you. Every time I speak about Christ, Christ speaks through me. Say that with me: “Every time I speak about Christ, Christ speaks through me.”
So don’t worry about what to say. The Spirit of Christ speaks through you. And don’t worry about the results. Noah didn’t get very good results. Noah knew what it was like to live as a godly person among an ungodly culture. Noah would have been able to identify with the Christians of Peter’s day. Noah spoke to the unbelievers of his day. The Spirit of Christ preached through Noah. And Noah’s message was, “Get into the ark! Judgment is coming!”
Was Noah successful? At the end of Noah’s ministry there were just 8 conversions (3:20).
Be encouraged: God doesn’t call us to be successful. He calls us to be faithful.
Faithful followers of Christ:
Suffer regularly
Sanctify decisively and,
Speak courageously.
- Stand for prayer.
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